Wilfred Owen's poem "Futility" reflects on the death of a soldier, either killed or gravely injured, during World War I. The speaker addresses the lifeless soldier directly, wondering if moving him into the sunlight might revive him, as nature once awakened seeds and stars. However, the snow suggests all hope is lost. The poem questions whether creating life has purpose if it can be destroyed so easily in war, implying the soldier's death was futile and the suffering of soldiers pointless.

1. Futility
Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was
born in Shropshire to an English
and Welsh family and was best
known for his war poems
written whilst he served in the
trenches in World War One. He
died in battle only one week
before the end of the war.
The term and title of the poem;
“Futility “shows how pointless and
worthless war is. “Futility” is
Owens’s belief in the worthlessness
of both God and war.
The poem is about an
injured, probably dead,
soldier. It's set in
France during the First
World War. World War
I (1914-18) was fought
on most of the
continent of Europe
between Germany and
the Allies. The poet
questions what the
point is of life being
created if it can be
destroyed so easily.
You should compare this poem with
other poems about the same themes:
sadness and loss: 'The Falling Leaves',
'Come On, Come Back';
effects of conflict: 'Poppies';
helplessness: 'Belfast Confetti‘
Wilfred Owen – along with his friend and mentor, Siegfried
Sassoon – is now thought of as the poet who exposed the
brutalities of trench warfare and the senseless waste of life
caused by World War One. Owen spent only four months
fighting and only five weeks in the front line, but the shock
of the horrors of war was so great that he decided it was
his task to expose the ‘Pity of War’, to represent in poetry
the experiences of the men in his care.

2. Futility
by Wilfred Owen
Move him into the sun –
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields half-sown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
Think how it wakes the seeds –
Woke once the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear achieved, are sides
Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
– O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?

3. Move him into the sun –
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields half-sown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
The poet begins the poem
talking of a certain “him”. We
don't know who he is — he
could represent all soldiers
damaged by war or represent
a specific soldier.
The sun could stand as a metaphor for
the giver of life or it might mean that
the personification of the sun as gentle
contrasts with the brutality with war.
Suggests he was a farmer
before he had to be a
soldier and also implies
lost potential. The poet is
sympathetic to the
soldier, and uses a kind
and respectful tone to
talk about him.
Mentioning ‘France’ suggests the
First World War battlefields.
This line links with
the title of ‘Futility’
-there's a resigned
tone that suggests
that all hope has
been lost and the
soldier is dying. This
poem challenges
the ideals of young
men who define
patriotism as
“serving one’s
nation” and it
offers readers the
principle that life is
futile due to the
inevitability of
death.
Nature (the ‘sun’) is personified
as powerful but helpless in the
face of war. The word ‘kind’
suggests a friendlier tone.
This suggests he can't
move himself and
makes us wonder why.
There is a possible biblical connection here. The
repetition of the word ‘him’ implies a reference
to Christ. Consider that Christ died for all mans
sins. The sacrifice Jesus made for humanity may
be put on the same line as soldiers sacrificing
for their nation.
The poet uses a mixture of
past and present tenses to
show the contrast between
the soldier's life at home and
his current situation. The
repeated references
to waking emphasise the
contrast between being
awake and alive and being
paralysed or dead.
The snow seems a metaphor
for a loss of hope.

4.
Think how it wakes the seeds –
Woke once the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear achieved, are sides
Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
– O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?
Both stanzas start with
commands - this could be
suggesting that the
reader must face reality.
The first stanza is a
practical instruction
about how to help the
soldier. In the second
stanza the language
becomes more
philosophical
as the poet considers
whether creation is
worthwhile when life can
be ended so quickly.
Here the poet is
stating that the sun
was capable of
waking plants and
seeds and even a
‘cold star’
This idea is repeated from line 4 to
show how important it is — nothing
will wake the soldier now. This hints
that he's died or that he's alive but
incapable of moving himself.
The sun is
powerful and
brought the
earth to life in
the beginning,
but it can't help
now.
Makes living human beings
sound precious — it's hard
work to create themQuestions the reasons
for giving life in war -
suggests it's pointless.
‘fatuous’ means unthinkingly foolish.
The poet's anger is coming out - he's
hinting at the pointlessness of war.
The poet feels bitter about the waste
of life caused by war, and frustrated
at the pointlessness of creating life
for it to be destroyed by war.
The questions show the poet's emotion building up. He
challenges us to agree or disagree with him. The poet
addresses the reader directly, which makes the reader feel
more emotionally involved with the poem. The poem
contains commands and questions that challenge the reader
to think about why the soldier's life has been wasted. The
rhetorical question creates an atmosphere as Owen implies
that it was futile for the sun to have awakened the earth.
The poet mainly uses half
rhyme (e.g. "seeds" and
"sides") rather than full
rhyme, which makes the
poem seem less formal
and more conversational.